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Several roads to choose from!

No company today builds tube testers or backs them up. There all antiques and have to be looked after with care. You need to look for a transconductance tester. There are many cathode emmission testers that are not nearly as expensive but they only check the condition of the cathode and are not transconductance testers. If you're well healed then you could go the Hickock route. But the Japanese market has elevated the price of Hickocks to over $350. For audio purposes its nice to have a bias control and only a few Hickocks had this: the 752 and 539C. The Military tube testers when you open the lid, you're immediately hit by a pungent odor of PCBs. But if you can stand it the TV-7DU and the TV10 are good testers but still around $300. The Weston company also made a good tester in the 981 Type 3. About this same time Schulemberger acquired Heathkit and Weston and the following Heathkit TT1A is a Weston 981 Type 3 in sheeps clothing. The Eico 666 and 667 are decent testers but Eico and B&K used plastic tube sockets and if it's had a lot of use then the tube sockets may need replacing, especially the worn ones. The B&K 747 and Eico used special switches that get dusty if the tester has spent most of its life with the lid off. E-bay is a good place to start. Fair Radio Sales in Lima, Ohio have testers for sale. The best! James


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